About Us

Who we are

Brain and Nerd is a small indie games development studio based in Jordanstown, Northern Ireland. The company is led by Director and lead programmer Brendan Drain and Co-Director and project manager Tina Lauro Pollock.

What we do

We are currently making a turn-based 4X space strategy game called Predestination, which is now on Steam in Early Access. We specialise in “hardcore” PC gaming trends that have solid mechanics and compelling gameplay. We enjoy building on older genres by iterating on previously successful mechanics and adding some new qualities to the tried-and-tested mix.

Our current projects

Predestination – A 4X Space Strategy Game

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Predestination is a turn-based space 4X game that significantly modernises and improves on the gameplay of classic games like Master of Orion II, Civilization and the Galactic Civilizations series. You’ll explore procedurally generated galaxies that guarantee every game will be different, expand your galactic empire and exploit the resources around you, and finally make contact with other races and join together in peace or exterminate them to dominate the galaxy. There’s something in Predestination for everyone, whether you prefer diplomacy, strategising, exploration or military conquest.

Main features:

Predestination is currently in the Alpha stage and is available to purchase and play now on Steam Early Access. Below is a list of the game’s main planned features

  • Turn-based gameplay: Predestination returns to the 4X genre’s turn-based roots to deliver the most tactical gameplay possible. Spend as long as you like to plan your next move, or queue up research and construction plans and fast-forward through the turns until they’re complete.
  • A 3D galaxy map that works: Our intuitive 3D galaxy map is easy to navigate. Predestination doesn’t use restrictive star lanes, so you can send ships to any star in range of your planets.
  • Real planetary exploration: Use scout ships and advanced scanning technology to explore individual planets, hunting for resources and lost technology. Planet-based events and rare discoveries will be hidden throughout the galaxy for those with a knack for exploration.
  • Tactical fleet combat: Turn-based fleet combat on a hexagonal grid with terrain effects like asteroids and micro-nebulae. Design a fleet to execute a particular strategy, with a mixture of smaller fast ships and larger ships with more powerful weapons.
  • Design your own races and ships: Custom races will be designable using a point-based system, and you can design truly unique ships in our upcoming 3D ship designer by slotting together individual weapons, thrusters, cosmetic parts, and special modules.
  • Build a vast empire: Planets in Predestination are more than just some numbers on a spreadsheet, they’re part of a real functioning empire. Set up trade routes between nearby friendly planets to exchange resources you find on a planet for those that the planet lacks. Zoom down to the surface of planets to build individual cities, construct large industrial infrastructure and roads to specialise each city for a particular job, from residential cities and mining towns to research outposts and farms.
  • Streamlined micromanagement: There’s no need to put an AI in control of your cities! A set of revolutionary new tools will let you manage your entire empire quickly and easily without losing any control. Colony Blueprints will let you manage dozens or even hundreds of colonies at the same time, the taskbar system brings important events to your attention from across your empire, and automated scouts will search your planet for resources.
  • Strategic weapons: Send spies to infiltrate individual enemy planets, launch warp-capable planet-to-planet missiles to bombard alien worlds, and bomb specific cities from orbit with your fleets. Research superweapons that can destroy planets or terraform them to another environment types to make them ripe for conquering.
  • Unique technologies: Hundreds of technologies to research, from planet-based buildings and upgrades to ship modules and weapons. Each race type will also have several race-specific technologies to obtain that explore that race’s unique abilities.

 

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Predestination has been a community-led project from the very beginning, using comments and suggestions from our existing backers to drive progress. Now that it’s available on Steam Early Access, we’re working even more closely than ever with our community. You can follow the latest developments and plans with our up-to-date Development Tracker thread on the Steam forums and submit your feedback and bug reports to help us improve the game. We read everything that’s posted on the forum, and frequently start up discussion threads on topics relating to the parts of the game we’re actively developing. Your input really does matter!